Progressive technological evolution of electronics and computing devices motivates advances in semiconductor technology. In addition, growing consumer demand for smaller, higher performance, and more efficient computer devices and electronics has lead to down scaling of semiconductor devices. In addition, to meet device demand while restraining costs, silicon wafers upon which semiconductor devices are formed have increased size.
Fabrication plants working with large wafer sizes utilize automation to implement and control wafer processing. Such plants can be capital intensive and, accordingly, it is desirable to maintain highly efficient operation of fabrication equipment to minimize downtime and maximize yields. To facilitate these goals, measurement equipment can be employed to monitor fabrication equipment during wafer processing and to acquire measurement information on both the equipment and the processed wafer. The measurement information can be analyzed to optimize fabrication equipment.
According to an example, the measurement information can include tool level information, which indicates a state or condition of fabrication equipment or a portion thereof, wafer metrology information specifying physical and/or geometric conditions of wafers being processed, electrical text information, and the like. In addition, spectroscopic data, e.g., spectral line intensity information, can be gathered to facilitate identification of etch endpoints by process engineers. However, in conventional fabrication environments, various measurement data is handled independently of one another, for different purposes. Accordingly, inter-relationships among various measurement data are not leveraged for advanced optimization of fabrication processes.
The above-described deficiencies of today's semiconductor fabrication measurement and optimization systems are merely intended to provide an overview of some of the problems of conventional systems, and are not intended to be exhaustive. Other problems with conventional systems and corresponding benefits of the various non-limiting embodiments described herein may become further apparent upon review of the following description.